2010 Canadian Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) for Grades 3-8

Every other year, our students from grades 3 to 8 write the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS), a comprehensive set of standardized tests from Thomson Educational Publishers administered to over 40,000 students from all types of schools across Canada. Unlike Ontario's EQAO test we are not given advance guidance on the content and we cannot teach preparatory material. The CTBS is much more extensive than EQAO because it tests in 11 different areas, not just reading and math. The CTBS includes subtests for Vocabulary, Reading, Spelling, Capitalization, Punctuation, Grammar, Math Concepts, Math Problem Solving, Math Computation, Science, Reference Materials, and Visual Materials, like maps and diagrams.

CTBS Results are given in percentiles. For example, a score of 60 means that a student did better than 60 percent of the students across the country who wrote the test. The national average is scaled to 50, indicating that the average student writing the CTBS test did better than half the population.

Results are also given in Grade Equivalents. Since the tests are written in November, i.e. the 3rd month, an average student in Grade 3 will have a Grade Equivalence of 3-3 (November of grade 3). A score of 3-8 would indicate a performance equivalent to a child in Grade 3, the 8th month (April) of the school year.

Because the CTBS comparison population includes thousands of students from Alberta and BC, who are typically the highest-ranked students in Canada for educational outcomes, an average CTBS score is likely a higher achievement than an average EQAO score.

Here are the GCCS Results for Fall 2010.

For example, looking at the Grade 3 row, the National Average is 50 by construction. The average student in Canada did better than half (and worse than half) of those who wrote the test. The GCCS Average is 81, meaning the average student in Grade 3 at Guelph Community Christian School scored better than 81 percent of the Grade 3 students across the country. The Grade Equivalency is 4-2, meaning that as of November, on average, the students in Grade 3 at GCCS are performing at a level equivalent to students in Grade 4 (October) at other schools across the country.

Taken as a whole, GCCS students are consistently ranked well above the national average. School-wide our average score was 81, meaning the average GCCS student did better than 81 percent of the students across the country who wrote the CTBS exam this fall, placing us in the top 20 percent across Canada. All GCCS grades are performing above grade level, with Grade 7 and 8 classes performing at rates equivalent to mid-high school levels across the country.

CTBS results also show that GCCS students are not only performing well above the national average, but are also performing above their peers in other schools belonging to the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools, a category of independent schools that traditionally score well above average in student outcomes.

If you would like to look at the CTBS results in more detail please contact Principal Bob Moore at 519-824-8860, who would be pleased to discuss them with you.

We thank the Lord for effective educational efforts by students, staff and parents at GCCS. Our students are well prepared to serve the Lord day by day, and in further studies at high school.

2011 Gates-McGinitie Reading Tests for Grades 1-3

Every year grades 1, 2 and 3 take the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests that are published and standardized by Nelson Canada Publishing Co. These tests examine the students' vocabulary recognition and reading comprehension. The tests consist of multiple choice questions for choosing definitions and for reading short passages and then answering questions.The most recent tests were written in June 2011 (the 10th month of the school year). We use these tests at the end of Grades 1, 2 and 3, so the comparison scores would be 1-10, or 2-10, or 3-10, meaning grade 1, tenth school month, etc. Our results were as follows:

As you can see the GCCS average scores compare favorably to the comparison point, indicating that our students are performing well compared to grade-level. The reading comprehension average is always above the vocabulary recognition average. This tells us that we are teaching for meaning, not just for sight recognition by rote (but we do a pretty good job of sight recognition, too). These results also tell us that each class is being well prepared for their next year's work.